ITO THE EDITOR OP THE .sprorszott.~] Sra,—In your interesting article
of October 14th on "Small Holdings" you rightly deprecate the expenditure of too much money upon farm buildings, and ask why a small bolder should not be allowed to provide accommodation for himself and his stock upon a Canadian or Colonial scale. It is a (ideation I have often asked myself, and it will be interesting to see whether your article provokes any replies as to how existing building regulations could be safely modified so as to admit of this. But why should such accommodation neces- sarily be untidy or unsightly P I have recently, spent a few weeks in the South of Sweden, and marked the humble home- steads on the small farms in that country. Nothing could be more picturesque or neat than their small, but substantial, houses and sheds. In a climate which, I am told, is quite as trying as our own to such materials, these farm buildings can be erected in wood on good stone foundations at a surprisingly small cost. In, a pamphlet recently issued by the Swedish Government (" Forslag till Abyggnader for mindre Jordbruk," Department of Agriculture, Stockholm, 1905) plans and full specifications are given for small homesteads complete,—i.e., cottage ; cowbyre, pigsty, and shed; and fodder-house. One of the more expensive of these, including a good house of three rooms and entrance on the ground-floor and a large attic above, came to about 2288 160., while the smallest was only £175 18s.! And none of them would have done discredit in appearance to a model estate. I also witnessed some interesting examples of mechanics in process of "getting back to the land" in exactly the fashion you advocate,- i.e., working for wages and at the same time managing a small holding. Here is one. A B has six acres of land and a pretty farmhouse. I was told that the Government had lent him 2,500 kronor (say £137), which (after three years free of any interest) he was repaying at the rate of 3* sinking fund, and 3Av interest per cent. In about thirty years, after diminishing payments, the farm and buildings will be his own freehold property, with power in case of his death to his wife to continue the arrangement until it is paid off. This man has a hard-working wife and seven children, the eldest sixteen. Ete works in a factory close by, makes about 32s. a week, and with practically no extra labour beyond that of his family keeps up the farm, and has already, after about four years, two cows and two pigs, besides poultry. When we have made all allowance for comparative cost of material and fittings, rate of wages, standard of comfort, and climatic and other conditions, is there not something to be learned from these examples P—I am, Sir, &c., G. R. WAKEFIELD. Bishopgarth, Wakefield.
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